At the end of 2021, Yiwenjun launched the "2021 Translation Agency Top 20 Good Books" selection activity.
At the same time as the readers voted, Yiwenjun also invited his own "circle of friends", each of whom chose a good book for translation in 2021 and wrote his own comments.
Bookstore employees, book e-commerce platform employees, digital reading platform employees, social media reading bloggers, scholars, book reviewers, reading experts, magazine writers... The 21 reviewers invited this time have different identities, but they are all closely related to the book publishing industry.
Despite their different identities, the works they choose have one thing in common: they contain a heart-warming force. This power comes either from the optimistic tone of the work, or from the warm narrative, or from rational and profound thought.
As Weibo blogger @Rope's Book and Microcosm has said, "It is a very happy thing to hold a book like this in the winter time."
Today, Yi Wenjun shares with you the happiness that 21 reviewers have experienced - the sun always has a way to shine on us, illuminate the labyrinth of narrative, penetrate the fog of thought, heal and soothe people's hearts.
👉 Readers can click on the book cover below to purchase a single book, or go to the end of the article to enter the "2021 Shanghai Translation Annual Good Book Inventory" feature page. At the end of the article, when the large coupon code, you can use the order, and the order is more favorable.
01
The sun always has a way of shining on us
Clara and the Sun
👆 Click Buy Paper Book
[English] by Kazuo Ishiguro
Translated by Song You
Shanghai Translation Publishing House
Qingdao Fangsuo Event Planner @ Zheng Shanshan Comments:
Is there such a thing as the "human heart" in the literary sense? On the one hand, artificial intelligence is abandoned because of kindness and selflessness, and on the other hand, it is human beings who cannot be replaced by machines because of hypocrisy and fickleness. Through a unique and exquisite narrative, Ishiguro brings us an adult fairy tale full of warmth and heartbreak, and once again brings the discussion of human beings and technology back to the public's vision. At the end of the story, as readers, we can't help but feel sad and sorry for Clara, but closing the book, as a book practitioner, I can't help but feel glad that we still have such a book: "The sun always has a way to shine on us, no matter where we are." 」 ”
@Liu Can, head of TME Long Audio Independent End Copyright Center, commented:
This is a book suitable for listening to breakfast on weekend mornings, and the expression is very delicate and restrained. The little girl "Clara" is an artificial intelligence, and she has been waiting for it to finally come to another little girl's home. Through her eyes, we see a family that has been hurt by gene editing, see the choices of different people, and see the selfishness of human nature.
Penguin cloth classic Austen works
By Jane Austen
Wang Keyi Xiang Xingyao Jin Shaoyu et al. translations
Weibo blogger @Rope's Book & Microcosm Review:
Jane Austen uses delicate and humorous brushstrokes to describe the themes of love and marriage, as well as the implicit relationship between the sexes and society. Her writings and her own life have influenced generations of people and inspired people to think about love and life. In addition, for me who thinks of using miniature models and books to tell stories every day, the cloth binding of this set of books makes me feel very amazing, its visual and tactile texture is rare to make people feel the tenderness and warmth of books so obviously, I want to hold such a book in the winter time to read, it is a very happy thing.
"Meet Tuesday"
By Mitch Albom
Translated by Zhong Na
Weibo blogger @Ye Nansheng commented:
When reading "Meet Tuesday", it seems that you are also accompanying the old man through the rest of his life, and you are also accompanying him to review and experience this short life. Perhaps for me, I don't think the meaning of life needs to be found. But the purpose of life should not be to create meaning. I have always believed that the best way for a person to find himself is to forget himself. Turn yourself into a drop of water in the long river of life. Turn into a speck of dust in the hot soil of your heart. Forget your feelings and let go of all your emotions. Love and giving will guide people. I think after reading this book, you will feel this way.
"Feng Zikai Writes Van Gogh"
Feng Zikai
Former chief of the proofreading section of Shanghai Translation Publishing House, Grandson of Mr. Feng Zikai @ Yang Ziyun commented:
Mr. Feng Zikai studied in Japan briefly in his early years, because he borrowed money to study at his own expense, and the funds raised were only enough for ten months. During his study abroad, he did not devote a lot of time to learning Japanese, but went to visit exhibitions, listen to concerts, visit libraries, watch operas, visit used bookstores, and "breathe in some of the air of Tokyo's art world" to the greatest extent. It was this experience that brought him into contact with a large number of Western paintings at the age of twenty-three.
When Feng Zikai published "Van Gogh Life" (that is, "Feng Zikai Writes Van Gogh" in 1929) to introduce Van Gogh, impressionist paintings were still very rare in Chinese cultural circles, and the writer Mr. Chen Zishan confirmed that Mr. Feng was the first person to introduce Van Gogh in China. Moreover, Feng Zikai's reference book is Kuroda Shigetaro's "Tale of Taniha", but it is not a simple translation of Van Gogh's life experience, but his own literary pen to "write Van Gogh", and through "writing Van Gogh" to expound some of the artistic views he advocates, such as artists are divided into two types: pure artists and artists who are both pure and one person. There is no doubt that Van Gogh is the latter, his paintings are "life records" written with blood, and his "life is an explanatory text of the work".
This is the subtlety of the title of the translated version of "Feng Zikai Writes Van Gogh".
02
Illuminate the labyrinth of narrative
Ulysses
[Ireland] by James Joyce
Translated by Liu Xiangyu
Jingdong Book Sales @ Xiaoqiu Review:
This is the third full translation of the entire Chinese-speaking world after xiao qian, Wen Jieruo and Jin Wei. The first limited edition number rough edge book was snatched up in Jingdong, and this book is often listed on Jingdong's "Foreign Literature Hot List". Ulysses is widely regarded as both a literary masterpiece and one of the most difficult literary works to read. However, this version of the Shanghai translation is accompanied by more than 500 pages of translation notes translated by Mr. Liu Xiangyu, which is more convenient to read and understand this "Book of Heaven".
Summer of Backlight
By Paul Giardano
Translated by Du Ying
Douban Friendly Neighbor @ Alfalfa White Fresh Review:
The heroine Teresa, who is the narrator, stands at the center of this love-hate storm, as the spokesperson for Giordano's "aesthetics of solitude.". She and Bane are sometimes intimate and sometimes distant, and loneliness has always been there in the process. Love sometimes appears in the guise of hate, especially in literature. Fortunately, here in Giordano, there is no need to distinguish between the two, just grasp their common core - loneliness. This novel profoundly explores the love, friendship, and inclusivity and complexity of modern people, redefining perseverance and parting ways until death. But whether love and hate occur or not, people are divided by faith, race, and education, and loneliness follows. Compromise, indifference, solitude in any sense is murder, and the hatred of cynicism that Giordano wants to express is expressed through what happened to Teresa.
The Rejection Library
[French] by David von Kinnos
Translated by Lü Ruyu
"Translating Reading" Contracted Author @ An Comments:
A novelist, screenwriter, and director, David von Kinnos is best known for his exquisite interpretation of French romance. In The Rejection Library, he challenges a new style: warmth and suspense, humor and satire. In addition to love and marriage, "Rejection Library" also has an irony about the impetuousness of modern society and a satire on the current situation of the publishing industry - for literary youth, "rejection library" is really a sad and romantic setting. This makes people wonder, how much of the whimsy in the "Rejection Library" comes from the bitterness of the author himself when he was not famous? From this point of view, the "Rejection Library" is sincere and moving.
"The Kids Behind Them"
By Nikolai Matthew
Translated by Long Yun
Weibo Blogger @Read & Share-Lin Yi Comments:
No matter how many books we read, there are always some authors who are out of our sight, and we can only find some good works due to fate. This is the case with Nicolas Matthew's novel. The Children After Them is a purely literary work. Two teenagers in the Lorraine region of eastern France, Anthony and Hasina, it all started that 14-year-old summer. The seasons are hot and dry, and adolescent boys are more restless. However, X is an important resource. These grown-up boys must have the skills and qualifications they have, and what will happen to them in the process? 1992 "Teenage Heart"; 1994 "You Will Be Mine"; July 14, 1996 "Fever"; 1998 "I Will Live". Four summers, four moments, teenagers are transforming, and this untapped city is changing. This is not only a growth story, it also presents a group portrait of ordinary people in the cracks of the times. There are too few opportunities for ordinary people, how can people live? It's still an open ending.
03
Penetrate the fog of thought
The Second Sex (Commemorative Edition)
[French] by Simone de Beauvoir
Translated by Zheng Klu
Dangdang Social Science Quality Management @ Dezi Comments:
Beauvoir's "The Second Sex" is a feminist foundational work, and this year it also dominated the best-selling list of dangdang.com social sciences. Readers who buy it may want to use it as a weapon, may be curious, or may simply feel fashionable. But whatever the original motivation, when it comes to reading, I believe that every reader will be completely attracted to her thoughts and statements. This book is not simply to express complaints and grievances for women, but to deeply analyze the social situation of women from a historical and philosophical level. Starting from affirming people's right to exist, Beauvoir points out the "existence" of each person from the perspective of existentialism, so that women as "others" can move to the status of subjects. What exactly does it mean to be "human"? What exactly does it mean to be "female"? ------------ Buy books, read, think and discuss together.
Age of Nothingness
By Peter Watson
Translated by Gao Lijie
Literary Editor, Bilibili UP Master @ Watanabe Review:
After God dies, the desperate situation of our time is no longer to be or not to be, no longer war and suffering, but emptiness and boredom. Who is not engaged in a protracted tug-of-war with nothingness? It seems to me that this book is doing a Promethean impossible—challenging nothingness. The weapons chosen by the author are literature, philosophy, thought, and even science, which is almost the ultimate of the side- and extensive, and in order to defeat the great demon of nothingness, it has to mobilize a large part of human civilization, although there is still no victory or defeat, but this is indeed an extraordinary journey.
"Naked Ape Trilogy"
Desmond Morris
Translated by He Daokuan
Book blogger @ Den with kitchen review:
Humans are actually strange, and the "Naked Ape Trilogy" tries to make us stop being "obsessed with the authorities" – locking humans in zoos and using a magnifying glass to observe our animality.
As an avid sports fan, I never felt that there was anything wrong with running and fighting. But Morris corresponds every aspect of the movement to animality, and I see that I am indeed a big monkey.
Therefore, my greed, laziness, and selfishness also have roots; and the madness and barbarism in human history also have their origins.
So if we look at "naked apes" as a philosophical model, I think humans will be more relieved and less persistent. Less entanglement, more enjoyment of the moment, respect for humanity.
The Future of Humanity, the Future of AI
Sun: Written by Shinya Yamanaka, Zenji Hanyu
Translated by Tintin Worm
Professor of the Department of Chinese Chinese And Literature of Fudan University, doctoral supervisor @ Yan Feng commented:
"The Future of Mankind, the Future of AI" is very easy to read, easy to understand, but it will not make readers feel shallow, and reading often has a new and bright feeling. Shinya Yamanaka and Yoshiharu Habu are very open-minded, shogi, Go, games, and finally the metaverse... Almost all subject topics can start from their own professional fields and be more in-depth elaboration, just like reading from thick to thin, from thin to thick, this is the most difficult. Reading this book, I both resonated and felt that I had really learned a good lesson.
"Us in the New Crown Era"
Translated by Wei Yi
Scholar and Executive Deputy Director of Ba Jin's Former Residence @ Zhou Limin commented:
The book "Us in the New Crown Era" is not a full record of the new crown epidemic or a depiction of the details of life, but a reflection on this special life, which is a list of "do not want to forget". Although it is a short reflection, there are many public topics involved. More importantly, the author reminds people that many problems do not just arise in the new crown era, nor will they disappear for the end of it, but that human beings should take this opportunity to make a deep reflection on our lives and our relationship with the world. If the epidemic is a lesson, this book is an after-school assignment, and the author believes that after too many painful days, we need to "get a wise heart." Not allow all suffering to be spent in vain.".
"Women's Power" Trio
By Emiko Ajigaki Yuko Kunitani Riko Ogawa
Translated by Guo Li and Jiang Hui
"In Japan" editor-in-chief @ Mao Danqing commented:
The "Women's Power" trio, a book about Japanese women, not only gives us an understanding of the power of Japanese women, but also makes us more aware of Japan – understanding other societies from a variety of perspectives is to enrich our own wisdom. One of the authors, Ritsuko Ogawa, summed up three key words for her work: "work," "love," and "persistence." In fact, these three keywords are also the core content of the "women's power" trio. The cultural phenomena reflected in these three books, especially as a personal narrative of Japanese women, are a true portrayal of the details and the humanistic feelings displayed. As a non-fiction text, it gives a soft power.
04
Heals and soothes
"The Human Heart"
By Erich Fromm
Translated by Lorna
The author of the "Translation reading" signed author @Young comments:
There has been a lot of discussion and controversy over whether "human nature is inherently good" or "human nature is inherently evil".
In response to this thesis, the humanistic psychoanalytic psychologist Fromm used the three phenomena of "love for death, malignant narcissism, and symbiotic incest" to construct the basis of the evil of the human heart—when they are combined, they form a "recession syndrome" that causes people to destroy for the sake of destruction and hatred for the sake of hatred.
I hope that Fromm's theory can help people and society make some changes, with the power of reason, love and freedom, actively act, as far as possible to choose good and away from evil.
"Patient's Family, Please Come"
Wang Xing
Get the e-book leader @ Zhang Lusha commented:
"Patient Family, Please Come" is the first launch of a new book made in the e-book. This book is not about how to cure the disease, but about how to cure the disease, which is very rare in the same genre. The author, Dr. Wang Xing, has been working in the frontline for many years and has rich experience in popular science writing. This allows him to tell us the most concerned questions of many patients and their families in the most understandable language. The book topped the list of new books on the day it went live. In more than a month, more than two hundred high-quality book reviews have been produced. Among them, users were impressed by this sentence in the book: "Anxiety is an emotion that we must face and resolve, it is not wrong, it is one of the most beautiful defects rooted in our genes, it is a by-product of love and responsibility." "It's important to treat cancer, but it's even more important to heal the heart that's been hit by cancer. Thank you Dr. Wang Xing for bringing this book.
The Gift of the Sea Fairy
By Dennis Johnson
Translated by Ying Chen
Century Tmall Book Operation @Beth Reviews:
The Gift of the Sea Nymphs is Dennis Johnson's second collection of short stories published twenty-five years later and his last work before his death in 2017. In his later years, Dennis is more and more able to face the past of life with bittersweet, beautiful and sincere stories, traversing encounters, marriages, various encounters and changes, and finally comes to the second half of life to avoid the inevitable theme: aging and death. A small book of five longer short stories, it contains a deep power. Characters who struggle with pain, their stories linger in the reader's mind and are difficult to rest for a long time.
Sambe: A Painter musician
[French] by Jean-Jacques Sambé, Marc Le Carl Pontier
Translated by Li Yizhi
Century Publishing Live Room Anchor @ Qian Jie Comments:
Flipping through this book will make you can't resist opening the music software to listen to it, even better if you have a radio or record player. Sambe's passion for music overflows from the lines of the interviews to the light jumping lines of the paintings, almost enviable— it's nice to have a lifelong love.
Such love is actually born out of the regret of not being able to ask for it. Who would have thought that the professional dream of the French national treasure illustrator Sambet was actually a musician. Music healed Sambe's unhappy childhood (even though he was gifted to play tunes by hearing alone), but his family's circumstances prevented him from embarking on the path of music.
Fortunately, Sambe has long integrated music into painting and his way of life. The rich text contains not only a large number of paintings of musical themes that Sambel has never published, but also a 30,000-word interview. Through this book, I am more certain that Sambe is a charismatic artist worth learning from.
Jack's Bear and Jack the Bear
By Dawn Gut-Krutenden
Translated by Ma Ainong
Founder of Alice Picture Book Research Institute and early reading expert @ Yang Di commented:
What should I do if my child is mentally and emotionally ill? How to treat the sadness and loneliness after losing a loved one? Jack's Bear and Jack the Bear provides us with a sustained release capsule that heals the mind and allows children to gain the strength to grow when these conditions arise. The entire picture book only uses three main colors of blue, yellow and brown, but it creates an incomparably brilliant story, giving readers large and small endless warmth and strength.
"True Friends"
[de] by Hem Hayne
Translated by Cheng Wei
Senior screenwriter, planner @ Parrot Shi Hang review
Every page of this "True Friend", I especially want to take a picture and share it with you... Picture books are never afraid of spoilers, because in the end it is the child who is reading, the child can read the picture book he likes ten times in a row, and he is eager to complete his world and build his starry sky.
When the winter vacation reading season, the translation of good books is reduced by 50 yuan for every 100 yuan, superimposed on the Dangdang discount code, and the order is more preferential (only for January 20-21 for Shanghai Translation Dangdang self-operated books). 👇
Coupon code for 200 minus 20: ZQQRTW
50 off 50 coupon codes over 300: CMQTUX
80% off 500 off coupon code: WKPSSD
In late February 2022, Shanghai Translation Publishing House will announce the "20 Great Books of the Translation Society in 2021" and announce the publication plan for 2022.
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